Fires Damage State’s Avocado Crop

If guacamole is more expensive when the Super Bowl rolls around in February, blame the wildfires. Flames hit an estimated 20,000 acres of avocado trees in northern San Diego County — at least a third of the state’s groves — and 15,000 more acres were threatened, emergency officials said.

If growers have to replant their orchards, they will wait years before being able to harvest again, said Jay Van Rein, spokesman for the state Department of Agriculture. California’s avocado crop is worth about $276 million annually, said state agricultural officials. -Associated Press